Frank & Tim score 11 points

Understandably confused, Tim and Frank immediately grab the squash racquets and try to figure out how to play squash.

They then begin to question how the other objects in the court might be involved.

Seeking further clarification from Alex on how points are scored, they are told that “it’s the Taskmaster system”.

Frank focuses in on the word ‘points’, identifies that the potted plant is ‘pointy’, and proceeds to count 11 of its pointy leaves. However, the score board still displays zero.

Tim tries kicking the waste paper basket across the court, to no avail.

Frank tries and fails to throw a cupcake into the bin, and Tim succeeds in doing so, but no points are scored.

Other actions which result in no points include: Frank placing the plant in the waste bin; Tim eating a cake; Frank hitting a squash ball; and Tim sitting at the table and hitting it with his racquet. Frank then touches his hand to his face as he considers his next act, scoring a point while he is looking away from the score board.

Having realised that they managed to score a point, the pair then try to identify the cause. Frank suggests that maybe one of them said a specific word.

Tim continues to eat a cake, and tries hitting the squash ball again.

He then tries placing the framed photo of the Taskmaster in the bin, which deducts two points from their score, putting them at -1.

While they are reacting to this, Frank again touches his face, getting them back to zero.

The pair return to the theory that maybe speaking a specific word is what scores points. Tim tries saying the word ‘points’, while Frank wonders if swearing is what scores.

Tim then suggests that shitting in the waste paper bin might score a point.

While the pair are laughing about this, Frank touches his head again, scoring another point.

Still at a loss, Frank tries putting the squash racquets in the bin, and then devises a theory that every time he can’t see Tim, they score a point (which is instantly proven wrong).

Frank again touches his face without thinking about it, scoring another point, at the same time that Tim is purposefully stepping on the cupcakes.

This leads to a new theory that they are scoring points for acts of slapstick comedy. To test this theory out, Frank balances the pot plant on his head, but scores no points.

Somewhat frustrated, Tim indicates that he doesn’t think they can succeed in the task, which appears to result in the deduction of a point.

Frank proposes that pessimism loses points, and optimism wins points, so starts making optimistic statements, while Tim tries nodding and shaking his head. The latter leads to the loss of another point, and then more, as Tim continues to shake his head, taking them down to -3.

Having identified that nodding does not score points, Frank identifies that there must be another gesture that does, such as touching your head. As he does this, they score a point.

Having identified how to score points, Frank then touches his head repeatedly, and Tim joins in, until they hit the target of 11 points.

Back in the studio, Alex confirms that it’s the “normal rules”: touching your head scores a point; shaking your head loses a point; and if you disrespect the Taskmaster you lose two points.

Despite having figured out how to score points, the team is revealed to have taken 18 minutes and 1 second to score 11 points, placing them last in the task.

However, Greg decides to award Frank and Tim one point each for having worked out the system.

(Written by Karl Craven)

(Illustrations collected and adjusted by: Karl Craven)